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Swedish bicycle history

The first bicycles in Sweden
The Swedes have always been interested in innovations from the outside
world, although they have not always adopted these, but instead gone their
own way. Thus far, the oldest description of a bicycle found in Swedish
media dates from 1818 and 1819 and describes a so called running machine
(draisine or hobbyhorse). In Stockholm Technical Museum you will find
what is probably Sweden's oldest steerable running machine, which was
made either in Lilla Mellösa, Södermanland, Sweden or in Berlin.
However, the running machine was unfit for the Swedish roads which were
considered horrible even a hundred years later. Consequently, the running
machine pretty soon fell into oblivion.

The next description of a bicycle in Swedish media is from 1869 where
the latest fashion from Paris, velocipede, is described. Several manufacturers
began their own production the same year, including J.W. Östberg
who had a production line of about 150 units of which the first ones were
introduced to paying audiences in Stockholm. Later that same year Sweden's
first "velocipede school" gave classes in Stockholm. Just as
the running machine before it, the velocipede was out of fashion after
no more than a couple of years. Britain, being one of the leading manufacturers
in the world, was thereafter to supply what few velocipedes and, later,
penny farthings that were in demand.

The first factory made bicycle models
In the year 1884 an important thing happens in Sweden when factory owner
Per From begins dabbling in penny farthing production. Some twenty bicycles
were made the first year and they quickly became popular. The five or
six already existing in Stockholm were all of foreign origins. Per From,
who kept up with his time, turned primarily to Britain for inspiration
and manufactured a safety velocipede in 1887, which was premiered in Stockholm
already in March that same year. Per From's significance to the development
and spreading of cycling has rightfully dubbed him Father of the Swedish
Bicycle Industry.

In 1886 a famous jockey named Anton Wiklund began selling well-known
British bicycles to his friends; Coventry Machinist's, Hillmans, Humbers
and Singers among others. The repair business generated by these bikes
gave birth to Sweden's second bicycle factory, whose production began
in 1889. Expansion of the production line became necessary and was effected
in 1891 when Anton Wiklunds Velocipedfabriks Aktiebolag (Anton Wiklund's
Velocipede Factory Limited) was formed. The company was to symbolise high
quality and stability for years to come.

The golden decade of the bicycle
Although Sweden had few racecourses for bikes and the open roads were
in a miserable state, the open road race Mälaren Rundt (around lake
Mälaren) with its start and finish in Stockholm was a success already
from the beginning in 1892. Open road races in particular drew great audiences
and gave the bicycle a boost. Most bikes during the 1890s were imported
and bicycles from Britain and, later, the U.S. became models for the dawning
Swedish bicycle industry.

To ordinary cyclists, the police, horse carriages and pedestrians were
a constant problem, especially the police, whose judgement of the speed
was a nuisance and the penalties were harsh. The generally vague law stated
that the bicycle should be conveyed at low speed so that a fully grown
man with a swift walk would be able to keep pace with the velocipede.
Moreover, the cyclist was not to disturb the horses, but to dismount if
a horse showed signs of agitation. Cyclists were perceived as the cause
of so many problems that license plates were required in a large part
of the country from 1894 and onwards.

The British dominance was quickly broken by the increasing import of
bicycles from America, which were being introduced by the mid 1890s. Around
1895 began the definite breakthrough of the bicycle in Sweden, giving
rise to our own bicycle industry, and a great number of factories were
to begin their small-scale production in the following years. In these
factories, brand names that were to last for a long time were born, such
as Hermes, Fram, Husqvarna, Rex and Vega.

The retailers that were selling imported bicycles were also increasing
in number, the most successful brands being the originally American bikes
Crescent and Rambler. The retailer which was later to be associated with
Örnen also has its origins in this period. The increasing bike import
from Germany never really got a hold of the Swedish market, but nevertheless
was at its greatest during the years around 1900.

Dark times
Around the year 1900 the market became saturated and the charm of novelty
had gone away, which led to a greater number of bankruptcies and a switch
in production lines across the world, including Sweden. Many a manufacturer
abandoned the bicycle in favour of other mechanical products. The bicycle,
which had previously been a pastime for the few, became more and more
available to ordinary people. However, it would take another decade before
the price had dropped to the working man's level.

Once again, a sports event rekindled the public's fading interest in
cycling. Track races were on the decline, but the open road race Mälaren
Rundt, which had not been held since 1893, was revived in 1901. There
was a slow and steady progress again, but very little happened before
the year 1910 when both Rambler and Crescent began being manufactured
in Sweden. Moreover, bicycle production began in Varberg by the company
which later was to become Sweden's biggest bike manufacturer and whose
product is known today under the name of Monark.

World War I did not affect the general development in Sweden until the
very last year of the war when there was a great material shortage. For
bicycle manufacturers, the shortage of tyres was so great that tyres and
inner tubes were not included in the price of a bike. In the aftermath
of the war many bicycle retailers were deeply in debt since prices constantly
changed to their disadvantage. Many a retailer disappeared from the market
at this time.

Times were once again good around the mid 1920s when the open road race
Sexdagars (Six Day Race) became a huge success for the organisers. Sales
curves were once again going up until the trouble on the New York stock
market began and the subsequent collapse of the Swedish market occurred.
The Krüger crash in Sweden had a negative effect on the economy for
a couple of years. At the same time, the industry was changing and small-scale
production began to disappear.

The renaissance of the bicycle
Crescent was the first brand to disappear when the maker of Hermes, Nymans
Verkstäder (Nyman's Workshops), took over manufacturing from Lindblads
in 1931, and in 1933 they also took over from Östergötlands
Velocipedfabrik (Velocipede Factory of Östergötland), the maker
of the bike Vega. It was not until the first few years before World War
II that the bicycle industry would be at its strongest. Bicycle tourism
became commonplace thanks to Sweden's generous holidays law. It was not
until 1936-1938 that the carrier became standard on the big brands, and
a couple of years later it was accompanied by a tool cassette on some
brands, as opposed to a tool bag made of leather or cardboard. In 1937
came the injunction that the end part of the bike's rear fender must be
white for traffic safety reasons. New bikes were being painted and there
were white celluloid end parts for sale in order to make those bikes on
the road legal. The plain red rear reflector was developed further and
received a prism-like inner part which reflected light considerably better.
However, life in the bicycle industry was not all skittles and beer as
the maker of Nordstjernan, Wiklunds, was swallowed up by Nymans in 1939.
The Second World War did not affect Sweden as severely as World War I,
but petrol was rationed and bicycle manufacturing was going at an incredible
speed until the government decided to ration all raw materials as a precaution.
In 1944 people started talking about the "peace quality" that
the bicycles were made of.

Many of those Swedish manufacturers which sold German hubs and spare
parts in the 1930s were after the war selling the more easily accessible
British hub Perry and, above all, Husqvarna's Novo hub. The development
towards light bikes where former steel parts were replaced with aluminium
ones dominated bicycle advertisement at the time. Mostly, it was only
the carrier, the fender and, on some models, the rims which were made
of aluminium on the so called lightweight bikes. Gears were also being
introduced more and more, however, many cyclists had to do without them
since gears were an additional feature. Nymans was manufacturing Torpedo
under license from 1946 until the beginning of 1950.

Monark's traffic school for children was initiated as a small-scale one
man project in 1950 by the employee Anders Rosengren and, with the help
of the company, it quickly spread all over the country. The children were
to learn good traffic sense, which became an important feature in the
education system during the following fifteen years.

Towards a slow death
In 1952, when the moped (motor + pedal) did not require a driving licence
anymore, it also became a threat to the bicycle - and a must for the bicycle
retailers to have in store. All the big manufacturers and several small
ones were making their own models with imported engines, Germany being
the main engine supplier.

Monark's focus on bike races began to pay off after 1950 when the company
war against Nymans' Crescent stable was draining the stable owning manufacturers'
capital and problems concerning profitability were evident by the end
of the 1950s. By this time, the bicycle industry was unstable and the
three big manufacturers, Monark, Nymans (Crescent) and Husqvarna, were
struggling with profitability. Things were just as bad for the small companies,
among which there had been mergers for several years. Now the turn had
come to the big giants. Profitability was believed to be found in a merger
between Monark and Nymans in 1960. The merged companies which formed this
new conglomerate were carrying problems that took longer to solve than
expected. When this was almost done in 1965, the name was changed to MCB,
Monark-Crescentbolagen (Monark Crescent Companies).

There was one dark cloud on the horizon, however, and it was the new
Swedish import laws around 1960, which made it profitable to import from
abroad. The bike manufacturer Rex extended their range with British Sunbeam,
which were later replaced by Raleigh. The manufacturer Svalan adopted
Favorit from Czechoslovakia and their bikes were renamed Svalan after
being repainted, but the legend Favorit could be found on many of its
parts. In addition to the established bicycle manufacturers, several other
small and large companies tried their luck with their own imported low
priced models. In ten years imports reached the same level as the domestic
production.

Brief success
The dismountable so called mini bikes and car bikes were not altogether
new. But when Moulton acheives a breakthrough in 1962 with their bike
model in Britain, it creates an upswing and an interest in easy to use
bicycles. However, it would still take some time before the news reached
Scandinavia. Fram-King Import AB (Fram-King Imports Limited) were allowed
to make these Moulton bikes under licence, however, they handed over the
production to Norwegian DBS in a joint venture. The small-wheeled Moulton
Standard was thereafter introduced onto the market by Fram-King in 1968.
Of course, some features were different from those of the original, such
as the two-gear rear hub Duomatic, front wheel drum brake, bottom bracket
by Fauber and 16 x 1 5/8 inch tyres. The production went on for some years
as long as the interest for small-wheeled models was on top.

Geared towards racing
Gear hubs, which had been around ever since the first few years after
the turn of the century, did not grow truly popular on regular bikes until
the 60s. First came the Sachs model Duomatic which switched easily from
first to second gear with a slight back-step on the pedal. Mini bikes
were normally equipped with this gear device. The three gear Sachs Triplex
had its breakthrough the following decade. Bike race successes in the
late 1960s rubbed off on regular bikes and, in 1970, bicycle fashion had
it that bikes should be sporty. The company MCB was the dominating force
on the bicycle market and had great success with their bikes, but prosperity
and inner organisational problems in this big conglomerate were a constant
cause for concern. Prosperity problems were not greater than the ownership
problem, however, which turned the company into an unwanted child. The
owners seemed to change on a daily basis and the company's organisational
structure was somewhat unclear. This was the case during the entire decade.

The racing bike became the latest trend towards the end of the 1970s
due to its success in competitions. This model spread to the general public,
but not all of these bikes had the ten or twelve gears and the light and
stripped frame that characterised a racing bike. In the early 1980s more
and more models came equipped with drop handlebars, but most of them were
in fact regular bikes made of steel and equipped with stainless steel
fenders and rims, carrier, lock and so on. In other words, no lightweight
bikes.

From one extreme model to another
The racing bike had its era of greatness up until 1989 when the mountain
bike made it big time. Racing bikes became almost unsaleable in just one
year and everyone wanted a mountain bike. None of the Swedish manufacturers
believed that this trend would get a hold of the market; this bike with
its wide, heavy 26 inch tractor tyres and low frame without fenders, lights,
a lock and a carrier could not possibly manage to break through. The tall
functional Swedes, in love with all things practical, were nevertheless
won over by it, and it was not unusual to see a person more than six feet
tall sitting bent over mountain bike. All this just a year after the 26
inch wheel bike had officially been declared a children's bike.

In the aftermath of the sport, racing and mountain bike trend, the ordinary
bike received its renaissance and nostalgia characterised bicycles just
a few years after the mountain bike boom. Suddenly, all the remaining
bike brands started selling great quantities of regular 28 inch wheel
bicycles, which appeared to emanate from the 40s, but had the latest technology.
By the mid 1990s, mountain bikes and nostalgia bikes were not as popular
anymore, both models drifted towards the middle again and the more semisporty
trend ended the twentieth century.

Epilogue
Enormous progress has been made in the "world of wheels" ever
since the beginning of the nineteenth century, but the bicycle has not
undergone any radical change in the past 100 years. A number of inventions
have been made, but it is still the 28 inch or 26 inch wheeled, chain
driven bike with diamond frame, which is the most popular. In fact the
bicycle found its form a long time ago, yet there is always some new improvement
that is said to be better. If only manufacturers were better at reading
their bicycle history, maybe they could find their way back to light,
strong and durable constructions.

Irresponsibly out of the head of Åke Stenqvist stenqvists.cykel@telia.se
Translated into English by Anders Jonsson ajons2001@yahoo.se

Sources: Lots of catalogues & books with long forgotten titles.
The following books by Gert Ekström has been helpful: Svenskarna
och deras velocipeder and Älskade cykel, plus the books
Svenska cyklister i segertröjor and På två
hjul.